The Prosecuting Convention
by orangegirl8
Summary: Manfred von Karma took Franziska and Miles to a prosecuting convention. But even before they get in the car to leave, chaos ensues. And it kept ensuing the whole trip. Everyone who is, was, will be, or is related to a prosecutor is in this story. Mostly randomness, but enjoy!
1. The Journey

**My first multichapter story on ****fan fiction!**

**There's a lot of people I'd like to thank for this story**

**Thanks to Elizabeth A. for helping me come up with the idea! We had lots of fun planning this out**

**Thanks to my 10-year-old cousin for listening to me tell this and for the support! And thanks to my other friends for their comments and support, too. **

**The von Karma family are my favorite Ace Attorney characters. I apologize to them for what's about to happen to them.**

**Enjoy the story!**

****UPDATE** I forgot to mention earlier, this takes place around the time of the flashback case in Investigations, so Franziska is 13 and everyone else is basically a lot younger. Thank you to those who reviewed for reminding me.**

* * *

Manfred von Karma squinted his eyes in annoyance. Quick and heavy footsteps pounded loudly around him as Franziska, his daughter, and Miles Edgeworth, his adopted son, ran around the house collecting items they had forgotten to pack. They should have packed perfectly, and had everything they needed. Apparently, he needed to be stricter with them.

"I'm ready now, Papa!" Franziska said coming to a halt before him, slightly panting from running down the stairs. Manfred noticed she was hiding her riding crop behind her back, but didn't comment.

"Tell Miles to hurry up. We have to leave on time, with or without him."

"Yes, Papa!" Franziska ran up the stairs, loudly again, much to his frustration, yelling out "Little Broooother!" As she did so.

A minute passed before both Franziska and Miles thudded down the stairs. It was evident that Franziska had used her riding crop on Miles, as he had a large red mark on his face. But Miles Edgeworth was to be tortured even further as Franziska ran down the stairs with him, pulling his ear as she did so.

"All ready, sir," Edgeworth said with gritted teeth.

"Good. It will be a long drive to the Prosecuting Convention, and we want to arrive on time. Don't keep the driver waiting," Manfred stated. And with that, the three of them were off.

* * *

A couple of hours had passed in the car. The movement of the vehicle and the lack of interesting scenery and activity had quickly lulled Franziska nearly to sleep. She has prepared for this, of course, and took out her pillow and laid her head upon it. Franziska was about to fall asleep when-

"Get up. Cars are not for sleeping."

Franziska immediately lifted her head in a panicked daze. Her father was glaring at her. She sheepishly smoothed her hair and sat up. Miles Edgeworth, the fool, smirked at her and she glared at him.

But just a few minutes later, Franziska realized her eyes were closed. That the last thing she realized before-

"Aaaaah!" Franziska jolted- literally, as Manfred was holding a stun gun in his hand, giving her an angry glare.

"I told you to stay awake," was all he said.

This time, Edgeworth was looking at her pityingly. Franziska wasn't sure whether she despised his mockery or pity more. She slapped him on the arm, discharging her electricity to him painfully. "Ow!" Edgeworth jerked away. Franziska grinned, while Manfred said nothing.

Thankfully, they stopped to take a break to stretch, use the bathroom, and, if Manfred allowed it, buy food.

Edgeworth walked around the store, looking for a caffeinated drink so as to not repeat Franziska's mistake.

Apparently, the store didn't sell tea, so Edgeworth took a bottle of soda. He was about to ask Manfred if he could buy it, when his had drifted to his pocket and felt some money of his own. Edgeworth smiled to himself. If ever he wanted to rebel against Manfred von Karma, no matter how small, now was his chance. He purchased a small bottle of Pepsi Max and drank it quickly. _I wonder why they call it Pepsi Max_, he thought. What makes it different from regular Pepsi?

Edgeworth was about to find out.

* * *

"Stop twitching," Manfred commanded Edgeworth. Edgeworth couldn't help it. This car ride was _not_ letting him _MOVE-_ though Edgeworth had no idea why he had the sudden desire to do so.

"Little Brother," Franziska said with a frown.

"What is it?" He said, losing a little of his composure and snapping at her.

"Your leg is shaking and I want it to stop."

His leg is-? So it was. He stilled his leg, with some difficultly. This was odd, why was he so hyper and irritable? He wasn't during the previous section of the trip. Edgeworth had to think this through, logically. Even if his brain felt as jittery and hyper as he was.

He was in a bad mood previously, he recalled. Manfred had been lecturing him about packing and sent Franziska to fetch him. She had promptly yelled at him, and when he had calmly offered an explanation, she had gotten frustrated (which wasn't that hard to do) and smacked him with her damned riding crop and pulled his ear down the stairs. Then, the car ride was fine, and a little amusing, until Franziska had shocked him with her leftover electricity. He had felt sorry for her until she had done that.

Then the soda...the mystery of the Pepsi Max. Manfred never let them have soda or sweets...Edgeworth had to get something.

Wait a moment, Edgeworth thought. Hyperactivity, irritability- they were all caused by caffeine. Edgeworth realized with horror just how much of it he had consumed. Trying to avoid Franziska's mistake had resulted in one of his own of the opposite nature. _Just brilliant_, he thought scathingly. This would be a _very_ long drive.

* * *

Edgeworth and Franziska were practically dying to get to the next stop. The second the car doors unlocked, both of them flung open their doors.

Edgeworth ran a lap around the rest stop, just to burn off his energy. He kept scowling, still bitter over how his last plan for passive-aggressive revenge had backfired so badly on him. He walked in the convenience store, hanging his head in defeat. If only there was another way...

"Miles."

Edgeworth looked up. Manfred was addressing him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Go fetch some hand sanitizer." Without another word, Manfred walked away.

Edgeworth briefly wondered why Manfred wanted hand sanitizer before pushing the question away and starting to look around the store for hand sanitizer.

Soon, he had successfully located it, and started to think about what kind of hand sanitizer to get Manfred, since there seemed to be a wide variety of different types. Edgeworth scanned over the options, and soon found one that he would have _loved_ to have given Manfred, just to see the look on his face. But Edgeworth knew that Manfred would be suspicious of it and punish him...unless...

Edgeworth grabbed every other brand of hand sanitizer and his them on a different shelf, just to be safe. Then, he grabbed his selection for Manfred, and, trying not to smile, began to look for him.

"Sir," Edgeworth said, coming to a halt in front of Manfred.

"What is it, boy?" Manfred replied.

Edgeworth held out his selection in his hand. "I found some hand sanitizer."

Manfred glanced at Edgeworth's choice, then continued to stare at it in disbelief.

"It" being a small, light pink, strawberry-scented bottle of Hello Kitty hand sanitizer.

"This was the only kind they had, sir," Edgeworth explained, trying very hard to contain his laughter.

Silently, Manfred walked to the section with hand sanitizer. Sure enough, thanks to Edgeworth's foresight, no other hand sanitizer bottles were in sight. With a sigh, Manfred took the Hello Kitty hand sanitizer to the checkout, purchased it, and squirted some onto his hands.

* * *

"This is the most _boring_ thing ever," Franziska muttered once everyone had returned to the car. She was gazing out the window, her cheek pressed against the window, looking outside of the car with a glare as if the scenery had insulted her.

Edgeworth was slightly more entertained after his joke on Manfred, but sat in silence. Franziska shifted in her seat and frowned. "Papa, why do you have...Hello Kitty hand sanitizer?"

It took all of Edgeworth's composure not to burst out laughing right then and there.

"Don't question it," Manfred snapped.

"But..." Franziska still looked highly confused. She glared at Edgeworth, wondering if he knew anything. Edgeworth simply shrugged and shook his head.

"I said don't question it," Manfred raised his voice slightly.

Franziska shrank back in her seat. "Yes, Papa," she said. Franziska glared at Edgeworth, much to his annoyance.

'What?!' He whispered to her.

Franziska simply whispered back 'Your face looks foolish.'

Oh, now she was asking for it. 'My face is perfectly functional, or can you not tell the difference?' Edgeworth challenged her.

'Yes, perfectly functional for foolishness,' she replied with a snide expression. Edgeworth threw his hands up. 'The sooner this drive is over, the better.' Franziska smirked.

'Says the one named after American units of measurement.'

"Stop your foolish whispering at once," Manfred barked. The two adolescents quieted instantly. "We're finally at our hotel."


	2. The Destination

The three of them had decided to walk to a restaurant, as they had spent the day in the car. It was a nice, normal dinner, except for the fact that Franziska had yelled at the waiter because she didn't care about the difference between Sprite and Sierra Mist, and that he was slowing their order down. The waiter immediately ran away and got their drinks, and the rest of the meal proceeded normally.

But now the family of three had finally made it to their hotel, and once everything had been unpacked, it was late and time for bed. Franziska looked more than ready to get some _real_ sleep, and settled herself into the hotel room and promptly drifted off.

Edgeworth and Manfred were still awake when there was knock on their door. Manfred frowned in annoyance, it was too late for any of the hotel staff to have any business with him. He went to answer the door (and tell off whomever was behind it), muttering about how _imperfect_ some people were when-

"Manny! Manny-poo! I know you're in there! Don't you remember me? It's Wendy! Come on, Manny..." The voice continued to rant.

Manfred stopped dead in his tracks. Edgeworth's eyes widened in shock at the voice outside the door, this 'Wendy'. Frankly, he wasn't sure if he should be disturbed or amused. Just how did this crazy woman know Manfred von Karma...? A terrifying thought crossed his mind.

'Sir?' Edgeworth whispered, for Wendy was still outside their door talking incessantly. In addition, he was quite frightened of Manfred's reaction to his theory.

'What?' Was Manfred's only response.

'Is...that who I think it is...?' Edgeworth asked, bracing himself for Manfred's wrath. He, for once, hoped he was wrong, he had trouble imaging _her_ as Franziska's m-

"NO," Manfred said loudly, forgetting that 'Wendy' was still outside and could hear him.

"Maaaanny open the damn door right this instant! You and I are going to be together whether you like it or not, let me _IIIIIIN_," 'Wendy' said loudly. She began to scratch the door to prove her point. Manfred mumbled something that sounded like cursing under his breath.

"Miles, you open the door."

"What?!" Edgeworth said, flabbergasted. "Why me?!" he whimpered.

"I can't open the door," Manfred said as if it was obvious. "And I'm not here. Now go," he said, giving Edgeworth a push towards the door. Edgeworth hissed in discontent, but complied as the feared prosecutor Manfred von Karma hid under his bed.

"...Hello..." Edgeworth said awkwardly coming face-to-face with and older- okay, old woman.

She pouted. "You're not Manny-poo..." she said.

"No...I'm not..." Edgeworth said awkwardly, trying not to look behind himself. "I think you have the wrong room."

"Well..." She hesitated. "You _are_ pretty cute..."

Edgeworth paled in shock.

"So, what's your name, sweetie pie?" Wendy asked.

"Miles Edgeworth?" He said his name like it was a question.

"Well, I'll see you later, Edgey-poo!" Wendy waved to him. Edgeworth returned the wave for about two seconds before shutting the door loudly. Manfred stuck his head up from behind the bed.

"Is she gone?"

Edgeworth grimaced. "She is for now."

* * *

_Now, the family could finally head to the prosecuting convention..._

"Sir...?" the driver for the von Karmas looked nervous- as he should be.

"What is it?!" Manfred asked, looking stern.

"The car...it's broken..."

_...or not._

_This_ is why Manfred von Karma, perfect prosecutor, had found himself in the most imperfect of situations- he was sitting on a _public bus_. Franziska and Edgeworth of course had no choice to follow him. They were sitting in a seat diagonal from his. What Manfred did not know was that Franziska and Edgeworth had already started to bicker before the bus had even moved. Manfred was still mulling about his horrible situation when a young girl, no more than 11, with brown hair in a half-bun and a lab coat sat down on the seat right next to him. Manfred frowned in annoyance, he certainly hasn't given her permission to do that.

"Hi!" The girls said with a cheerful smile. "What's your name and occupation?"

Manfred didn't appreciate the way he felt like he was being address as a witness and didn't answer, but the girl continued anyways. "I'm Ema Skye, future scientific investigator! It's a really nice day, isn't it? This is my favorite weather! What's your favorite weather?"

Manfred grit his teeth at the girl's foolishness. It would painfully obvious to anyone else that he did not want to talk to her, or even sit next to her for that matter. But Ema Skye wasn't one to let trivial things like silence bother her. She managed to hold a very good one-sided conversation with Manfred. She talked. And talked. And TALKED. Manfred thought he had hit his limit of frustration but soon he would learn never to underestimate the annoyingness of Ema Skye.

"Ooh! You know what would be more fun?"

Manfred von Karma simply frowned, he did not do "fun".

"We should sing songs! I know lots of great songs we can sing!"

_She can't be serious..._

"Repeat after me, okay? Da moose, da mooOOoose!"

Manfred obviously did not repeat after her, as that would have been foolish and imperfect, so Ema simply repeated each line twice. After she completed her song about the moose, which ended with the moose dying mysteriously, she sang a song about someone buying bubblegum, then choking on it, about a family of sharks who ate a human while they swam, and and about a frog who got eaten by a dog.

"What kind of terrible songs are these?" Manfred asked.

Ema looked appalled. "They're camp songs! Duh!"

It was Manfred's turn to be appalled. They teach these songs to children?

"Why do they all end with the subject of the song dying?!" Manfred questioned.

"I dunno...I didn't realize that before!" Ema replied.

Manfred scoffed. Some scientific investigator, he thought scathingly. Ema jotted something on a notepad. It read- Research more about camp songs.

"You know it would be more fun if you sang along, too," Ema chastised.

Manfred glared at her. "No."

"Aww," Ema looked disappointed. "Fine." She proceeded sing even more camp songs, for the duration of the trip.

Manfred was desperate for someone, anyone, to get rid of her or shut her up. He considered his stun gun, but, he remembered with a grimace, he was on a _public bus_.

"Where are your parents?" He asked.

The perpetual smile of Ema Skye's faded at last. "They're dead," she said matter-of-factly. Manfred was slightly surprised.

"Do you have a guardian with you?" Manfred asked, looking around the bus for someone else who could put up with Ema.

"My sister's my guardian," Ema informed him.

"Where is she?" Manfred asked, the tiniest bit of hope creeping into his voice. But only a little.

"Uh, funny story..." Ema said, averting her eyes. "She's already at the prosecuting convention.

Now Manfred was _really_ surprised. He hadn't heard of any other child prosecutors like Franziska, so she wasn't the prosecutor...so that must mean this sister of hers was.

"She's not actually a prosecutor yet. But she's going to be," Ema said confidently. "I was in the bathroom and kinda missed the other bus...oh well..."

Manfred resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Ema sang more camp songs until they arrived at the convention. Manfred nearly, so nearly, lost his sanity.

* * *

The first day at the convention was ordinary, and passed by seemingly quickly- if only because it was far more fun than a car or bus ride to the three prosecutors. It was a long day, filled with information and the stress of recent traveling, so the three of them were about to go to sleep when Franziska noticed a small, crawling speck out of the corner of her eye.

"Ah!" She leapt away and cringed.

"Franziska, what is it?" Manfred said frowning. Edgeworth was also frowning as well, Franziska seemed uncharacteristically...terrified.

"Spider," she said, pointing to the arachnid. "Somebody kill that spider."

Manfred seemed a little disbelieving of the whole situation. Edgeworth sighed, took one of his shoes and squashed the spider. Franziska was afraid of tiny bugs and not something like being trapped in a space, with no way out, or the very ground shaking underneath you...

Edgeworth snapped himself out of his unpleasant thoughts.

"Problem solved," Manfred said "Now go to sleep."

Franziska knew better than to argue with her father, but she couldn't relax herself. Where there was one spider, there were surely more that she couldn't see. In her mind's eye, she could see them crawling around, possibly giving her a venomous bite, and then feasting on her cold, dead body. And Edgeworth was afraid of _elevators_, she scoffed inwardly.

"Just on the off chance, Papa..." Franziska said quietly. "What if there are more spiders?"

"Try and find some way to keep them out. Now go to bed," Manfred snapped.

"Yes, Papa," came the immediate response. Franziska rolled over in her bed, still wide-eyed.

"Don't worry, there aren't anymore spiders," Edgeworth said. Both Edgeworth and Franziska were surprised, was he actually being comforting? Franziska brushed it off and said nothing.

"Goodnight, Franziska."

"Goodnight, Little Brother."

There are no more spiders, Edgeworth had said.

But Franziska knew better.

* * *

Franziska von Karma sighed as she walked back to her room. Manfred von Karma and Miles Edgeworth had attended some debate at the convention that she had been told she wasn't old enough for. _Those foolish fools!_ She thought angrily. _How dare they leave me out! I'm a prosecuting prodigy!_ In the end, her father insisted she do as she was told, even though she believed she was perfectly capable of understanding complicated things- she was a prodigy, after all. She was set to take the bar exam soon, and she was only 13 years old.

Still fuming, Franziska opened her door, and with terror remembered the events of last night. She remembered her father's words- try and find some way to keep them out. Franziska's original intent upon her arrival to her room was to study, but now...

She dug through her suitcase trying to find something, anything, that would be of use. _What can I use to keep the bugs out?_

Looking around the room for any suspicious looking nook and cranny that spiders could crawl through, Franziska spotted a hole in the wall and some gaps in the floor by the door that bugs could go through. Franziska resumed rummaging through her bag until she found something. It was a little odd, she admitted to herself, but the thought of no spiders was enough to convince her to use them.

Once Franziska had patched up every suspicious nook and cranny, she stood back and admired her handiwork. She used what she had on hand and did exactly as her father said- she found a way to keep the spiders out.

* * *

It was Manfred's turn to come back to the hotel by himself. He had given Edgeworth some money and told him to get dinner for himself and Franziska. Manfred had attended to some business while this happened and made his way back to the hotel. He opened the door to the room, with some resistance from the door...

Manfred turned the light on. It had felt like something had been blocking the door, a rug, maybe? Manfred didn't remember a rug there. He looked down.

Manfred paled and looked at the ground in disbelief. Along the floor by the edge of the door were...were...pads. As in, the feminine hygiene products. Why they were there, Manfred had no idea, but there was no doubt in his mind as to who put them there. Manfred inspected the rest of the room and turned red with embarrassment and fury when he saw that there was also a tampon inserted in a hole in the wall, the string dangling out. This was absolutely insane and ridiculous! Manfred thought furiously.

Franziska was going to be in a lot of trouble when she got back from dinner.

* * *

Edgeworth and Franziska arrived back at their hotel. Upon opening the door, the first thing both of the teenagers noticed as a very angry and red-faced Manfred giving them, especially Franziska, a look that could kill. Franziska stepped over the pads easily, but when Edgeworth shut the door, his eyes bugged out at the sight of the pads by the door. Yet again, he found himself unable to decide whether he was disturbed or amused. He had the urge to both scream and burst out laughing.

"Franziska von Karma."

Manfred said this with barely controlled anger in his voice. Both Edgeworth and Franziska were immediately wary.

"Yes, Papa?" Franziska said, nervously.

"Why are there..." Manfred seemed unable to get his words out "feminine hygiene products on the floor and the wall?"

"Oh," Franziska said, seeming naïvely relieved. "I put them there to keep the spiders out! You told me to find a way to keep them out, and I did!" Franziska finished her sentence with a smile, as if she expected to be praised for her ingenuity.

Edgeworth hit his forehead with his hand. He should have known that was their purpose. He understood what it was like to have a phobia...but he was sure that Manfred von Karma would not be so understanding.

There was a moment of horribly tense silence.

"When I said that," Manfred said, breaking the silence. "I meant that you should get a maintenance worker to fix it, not "fix" it yourself! Your foolish fear of spiders is not an excuse for this...this foolishness!"

Manfred's yelling was greeted with another, even more tense silence. Franziska's smile faded and her countenance darkened. Edgeworth was frozen, and felt rare pity for his adopted younger sister.

"I did what I had to do," came Franziska's response, quiet and surprisingly defiant to her father. "I used what I had and did what I had to do."

"I can't believe this," Manfred said in exasperation.

Then Franziska did something even more surprising- she talked back to Manfred von Karma.

"I'm a thirteen year old girl," she said gesturing to the floor and the wall where the pads and tampon were. "It's not that hard to believe."

Edgeworth gaped at Franziska, both impressed and terrified for her, and looked at Manfred, who had went even redder at his daughter's attitude.

The next day, Franziska was in a very bad mood, had very static-charged hair, no riding crop, and a very sore bottom.

And worst of all, spiders were sure to get back into her hotel room.

* * *

**Here's chapter 2! Hope you enjoyed.**

**Franziska's little redecoration was actually inspired by something that my cabinmates and I came up with to keep out spiders. Our counselor was very, um, ****_surprised_**** when she returned to our cabin...but she took it in good fun XD**


	3. The Wrath of Karma, part 1

****UPDATE** I changed Kristoph's age because it was incorrect. Whoops. I can't keep track of the Ace Attorney timeline. Sorry guys.**

* * *

The next day at the convention, all three members of the family weren't speaking to each other. Edgeworth was relieved that Manfred had allowed him to go about the convention as he pleased, but Franziska was to accompany her father at all times. Edgeworth fought bitterly with his adopted sister, but despite that he hoped for her sake she didn't make her father even angrier. What if he got so angry with them that they wouldn't be allowed to attend any more prosecuting conventions?! Edgeworth was enjoying himself a lot here- it was educational, he met a lot of other prosecutors, and he now wasn't forced to be in the company of the von Karmas. Some of the other prosecutors were strange, to say the least (like this Winston Payne fellow who had a very high-pitched voice for a grown man and kept flipping his overly-styled hair; which annoyed Edgeworth greatly), and none of them had as long of a winning streak as his mentor, but it was nice to meet other people in his field who weren't as...demanding.

Inspired by this, Edgeworth attended multiple debates, participated in a few himself, and listened to lots of lectures-and none of them were from Manfred von Karma. It was great, the best and only vacation- though it wasn't really a vacation- of his life. Edgeworth, having completed so many activities and learned so much, suddenly found himself very tired. He was staring at his law book, but the black print was becoming blurred, so blurred, that the pages looked all white. Now all Edgeworth saw was a white rectangle...and his tired mind then chose not to see his book as a book, but as a pillow. Edgeworth's head soon was upon the book. He resolved to get a short nap in. Perhaps then he wouldn't have time to have a nightmare, or equally bad, get caught by Manfred and Franziska sleeping. Fifteen minutes would be good. He drifted off.

Edgeworth slept peacefully for five minutes. Five.

Because at that time he was sleeping by a young boy. Younger than him and Franziska (or even Ema Skye). He brushed his blond bangs out of his eyes and with a mischievous grin, took out his flashy toy guitar, and turned the dial up to full volume. Anyone in this boy's family could testify that full volume on this toy guitar was not something you wanted to be within a mile of, much less one foot of. The boy struck a chord, purposefully making it sound dissonant.

Edgeworth's head snapped up. He let out a loud yell of annoyance. Fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes of rest was all he asked for, but _no_, Life clearly had it out for Miles Edgeworth. The young boy laughed loudly in Edgeworth's ear, then dashed out of the young prosecutor's reach. "Tschau, Loser!" He yelled obnoxiously before escaping. But Edgeworth caught the name written on the boy's name tag.

**Klavier Gavin**.

_One day, Klavier Gavin. One day._

* * *

Meanwhile, Franziska was having much less fun than her adoptive brother. She _would_ be happy being here at the prosecuting convention, if she had a little freedom to go places without her father following her around all the time. Honestly, did no one realize how important she was? She was Franziska von Karma, a prodigy! She was going to take the bar exam at the age of 13! None of the fools here at the convention had done that! Miles Edgeworth certainly hadn't done that! Everyone at this convention should be bowing down before her.

A very cross Franziska was snapped out of her thoughts by her father.

A very cross Franziska heard, but didn't listen to her father's instructions to stay put.

A very cross Franziska, the moment her father turned around, stood up and walked away.

Unsure of a destination to go, she simply headed to the lunch table. _Americans liked buffets_, she noted. Franziska spotted some brownies at the end of the buffet. She smiled a little, stepped in between two people at the end of the line, and took a large brownie. She ate it, feeling much better. Even German child prodigies couldn't resist a brownie every once in a while. Satisfied, Franziska turned on her heel to leave when she promptly crashed into someone. This someone, a man about Edgeworth's age, (who was unfortunately much than Franziska) was unfortunately carrying his lunch on a plate and a drink. He had luckily managed to keep his lunch balanced, but his lemonade had spilled all over the young prodigy.

Franziska's face scrunched up in anger as lemonade dripped from her hair and soaked her clothes. Her fury was silent for a moment. These are my favorite pair of pants! She inwardly screamed. Her favorite pair of white pants now had a yellow stain on it...there was going to be hell to pay for this.

"I-I'm so sorry, fräulein, I'm so sorry...!" The man stammered, a little thankful he had remembered words of apology in English, but mostly terrified of how angry the blue-haired (and now red-faced) girl in front of him looked. He really hadn't meant for his lemonade to spill...even though SHE had run into HIM, he was a gentleman, and would apologize anyway. But it wasn't going to matter.

"You...fool!" Franziska cried. "Foolish fool who is foolishly foolish! How dare you foolishly spill your foolish drink on me! ME!"

"I didn't mean to..." The man said frantically, nervously brushing his blonde bangs out of his face and pushing up his glasses.

"Do you know who I am?" Franziska suddenly lowered her voice.

The man frowned and read the name tag that was pinned perfectly onto her now-stained shirt. The name tag read **Franziska von Karma** in fancy writing. He paled.

"Von Karma...?" He said in awe and fear. Everyone knew the von Karma name- Manfred von Karma was perfect, so reputation said. Never lost a case. And now he found himself talking to his...granddaughter, was it?

"That's right. I am Franziska von Karma," she said, pausing afterward for effect.

In the distance, they could hear what sounded like a badly-played guitar chord and a yell.

"And for you foolishly foolish act of foolery, I, Franziska von Karma, hope that you _never_ become a prosecutor _ever!_ You and your foolish foolishness are better suited to be a foolish..." Franziska thought of the worst career she could say.

"DEFENSE ATTORNEY!"she shrieked. Franziska continued to rant about how the boy had brought dishonor on himself and his family, when he simply got fed up with this and threw another glass of lemonade at her.

Franziska's reaction was not disappointing, she screamed loudly, then started swearing loudly in German. "Your birth was a curse on everyone!" She was yelling, waving her arms about as she did so "and your mother is a-!" Suddenly, one of Franziska's arms was caught in midair by someone's grip. The boy took one look and scurried away, but not before Franziska caught the hated name of **Kristoph Gavin** that was written on his name tag. Franziska looked up to see her father frowning down on her.

* * *

It was times like these that Manfred von Karma seriously regretted having children. Giving Franziska a simple instruction, he left her alone for a moment. Upon his return he found her screaming at another child who looked very traumatized. She had soaking wet hair and clothes, and there were crumbs on her face. There were so many things wrong with this scene, he didn't know where to begin. He grabbed her hand and frowned. Not his usual frown, but the "Punishment is Coming Your Way" frown.

"You have thirty seconds to explain..." He trailed off, looking at the state of her clothes...including a yellow stain on her pants. "I thought you had outgrown that," was all he could say.

"I HAVE!" Franziska screamed and stamped her feet. Manfred's eyes narrowed, but Franziska paid no attention. "That _fool_ spilled his drink on me!" She paused, waiting for a reaction from her father. "Twice!" She said, hysteria in her voice, holding up two fingers to prove her point.

Manfred felt a headache coming on.

"Just...go back to the hotel and take a shower," he said, burying his face in his hands. "I'll get Miles to escort you." Manfred paused before saying in a low voice, "This time, you _stay put_. Do you understand?"

Franziska slouched under her father's glare. "Yes, Papa."

* * *

To Manfred's chagrin, Miles looked no better than Franziska. In contrast to Franziska's red face, Miles looked very pale and had dark circles under his eyes. One side of his hair was flattened, he was wearing a pair of pink earplugs that Manfred had never seen before and was clutching a bottle of Pepsi Max and a bottle of painkillers tightly. As Manfred approached him, he could hear that Miles was muttering to himself quietly. "Going to kill him..." He was muttering. He took a large sip of Pepsi Max. "I'm going to kill that kid."

Manfred announced his presence by jerking on Miles's ear. Miles let out an unmanly shriek. It was the second time he had his ear pulled this week, and they were still ringing from that _brat's_ little guitar solo. Manfred also took the bottle of painkillers for his own headache.

So the disgruntled and tired family made their way back to their hotel after a very, VERY long day.

* * *

Deciding to punish his foolish children, Manfred made Edgeworth and Franziska WALK back to the hotel. He had shooed them off while pouring himself the right amount of painkillers for his head ache. After Edgeworth bought himself yet another bottle of painkillers to replace his, they headed off.

"What the hell happened to you?" Franziska said, looking at her brother.

Edgeworth raised his eyebrows as he looked at his sister. "I could ask you the same question."

Franziska reddened. "This isn't my fault!" She snapped. "Some fool spilled lemonade on me. Twice!" She said, holding up two fingers. "What about you?"

Edgeworth scowled. "I was _going_ to take a small nap-"

"You shouldn't have been sleeping," Franziska said haughtily.

"Shut up," Edgeworth groaned. "When some kid woke me up with his damn toy guitar!"

"I thought I heard something like that," Franziska said. "Do you know who did it?"

"Some blonde demon child named Klavier Gavin." Franziska stopped walking. "What?" Edgeworth asked.

"His name is Klavier?!" Franziska said incredulously. Edgeworth nodded, and surprisingly, Franziska laughed. "A foolish name for a foolish fool."

"Am I missing something..?" Edgeworth asked. Franziska punched his arm. "Your German is atrocious," she scolded. "Klavier means piano in German." Edgeworth laughed as well. "Piano Gavin..."

"Well, I believe we have an unfortunate coincidence. The fool who foolishly spilled his foolish drink on me is named Kristoph Gavin."

They said nothing as they arrived at their hotel. As soon as the door shut behind him, Edgeworth broke the silence.

* * *

"We get them back?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

**Notes:**

**Tschau- Ciao, but with the German spelling**

**And yes, "Klavier" is just German for "piano". **

**This chapter's thanks go to my sister and multilingualtraveler for their feedback :)**

**The next chapter has yet to be written, so have patience my dear readers. I hope you enjoy the story~!**


	4. The Wrath of Karma, part 2

Much to Manfred's relief, there were no shenanigans, foolishness, or just plain awkward situations created by Edgeworth and Franziska over the next few days. In fact, both of them seemed on their best behavior, even more so than usual. Both went out of their way to please Manfred, and this put him in a good mood- or as much of a good mood as Manfred von Karma could be in. It seemed that long speech had done them both good after all...

**Two days earlier**

"Do you both understand?" Manfred had finished a speech that had went on for at least fifteen minutes. Edgeworth and Franziska nodded.

"Good. You are staying here for the rest of the day, understand?" They both nodded again. And Manfred had left.

**Present**

Yes, it certainly had worked like a charm. He really should do that more often. Maybe he should write his speeches down as well, for reference later. Manfred's confidence was rising- maybe he was finally getting the hang of this parenting thing, FINALLY. It had taken much too long to learn for someone as perfect as him. But he had done it. No challenge was too great for Manfred von Karma.

Manfred had decided to reward their good behavior by letting them go about the convention as they pleased today. He watched as Edgeworth and Franziska walked perfectly around.

Yes, all children raised by Manfred von Karma were perfectly behaved.

* * *

**Two days earlier**

After Manfred had given them a very long and boring speech about "crime" and its consequences, he had left. This was the time Edgeworth and Franziska needed to make a plan. The plan had consisted of behaving extremely well for a couple of days to appease Manfred, and some people-watching to see who could possibly be of help to their plan...finally, they picked their assistants.

**Present**

"2 garbage bags, empty?"

"Check."

"Binoculars?"

"Check."

"Wallet? Do you have your wallet?"

"Of course I have my wallet, fool! That's what this whole plan hinges on!"

"So is that a check?"

"Yes! Check it, you fool!"

"...Check," Edgeworth sighed, checking off the last thing on what they now called The Clipboard of Revenge. "It looks like we're all ready to go."

"Excellent. Just _picture_ the looks on the fools's faces when they see this," Franziska said, using the code names for the Gavin brothers.

That was all the motivational speech that Edgeworth needed. They headed out to the convention, ready to spring their plan into action.

* * *

"Do you see her?" Edgeworth whispered to Franziska, who was looking around the corner with The Binoculars of Revenge.

"Roger that," she replied. "I'm going in." Franziska tried to look inconspicuous as she walked around, waiting for an opportunity to talk to her target. Finally, Target 1 finished her conversation with her father.

"Hey, you," Franziska said.

"Me?" Target 1, also known as Kay Faraday, addressed the youngest von Karma.

"Yes, you." Franziska held out her hand. "I'll give you 5 Euros if you do me a favor."

"Euros?" Kay asked suspiciously. "I don't want your stinkin' Euros!"

Franziska frowned. _Mayday, mayday, mayday_. This was no good, she had to think of something fast-

"I'll buy you whatever you want from that machine!" Franziska offered, pointing to a vending machine. She held her breath, praying it would work.

"You'll buy me a Swiss Roll?" Kay asked happily.

Franziska let out a sigh of relief. "Yes."

"You got yourself a deal!" Kay said with a smile. They shook hands, and Franziska walked over to the vending machine to purchase it when-

"Franziska? What are you doing at a ...vending machine?"

From his watching point, Edgeworth's eyes bugged out as he saw _Manfred_ walk over to Franziska. _Mayday, mayday, mayday..._

"Oh, she was going to buy me a Swiss Roll!" Kay answered.

Manfred frowned. That wasn't very characteristic of his daughter.

"...Why?"

"To...to make her eat it in Miles Edgeworth's foolish face and have him suffer!" Franziska exclaimed. "That fool shouldn't want what he can't have!" Please buy it, she thought.

There was the Franziska Manfred knew. "Alright. Get right back to work after your lunch."

"Yes, Papa!" Franziska said, happy that the first part of the plan had gone okay.

Once Manfred had left, Kay turned back to Franziska. "So what's this favor of yours you need me to do?"

"Oh, just several small things. Come, we'll discuss this with Miles Edgeworth..."

"The fool who wants what he can't have?"

Franziska grinned. "Yes."

"Alrighty."

* * *

"So why do you need me to be here? Can't you just buy this yourself?" Kay asked Edgeworth as they both stood in line at a nearby department store. Franziska's job was to stay at the convention and make sure neither Manfred, the Gavins, nor Kay's father became suspicious of their operation.

"I could," Edgeworth answered. "But it would look stupid if I bought all _this_ by myself," he said, gesturing to the large amount of useless merchandise in the shopping cart.

"If you didn't want attention, then why are you dressed like that?" Kay asked looking over his very bright, shiny, and frilly outfit.

"These are professional clothes!" Edgeworth insisted.

"Pfft, in what century? My dad's a prosecutor, and he doesn't dress like that."

Edgeworth thought of furious responses, but none of them were appropriate to say, so he bit his tongue.

"Ooh, this thing's so fluttery," Kay said, standing on her tip-toes and ruffling Edgeworth's cravat.

"Stop it! Don't touch the cravat!" Edgeworth whispered hysterically, they were getting strange looks from other shoppers.

"Aww, but it's so fluttery!" Kay said.

"Just- let's just buy the stuff and get this part over with," was all Edgeworth could say. Both started to place their items on the checkout line when a familiar voice reached Edgeworth's ears-

"Oh, Edgey-poo!"

Oh, HELL no.

Kay snickered. "Edgey-poo?"

"I-I don't know her..."

"Sure you do, darling! It's me, Wendy Oldbag!"

Sure enough, standing in line behind them was the Oldbag herself.

"Oh, my! I've been waiting for you to stop by here, Edgey-poo! You spend so much time at that convention, and by golly, they wouldn't let me in! You have to be one of them fancy prosecutors! Have I told you how much I love prosecutors? Anyway, I've been waiting for you so long that-"

"Nice seeing you again, Ms. Oldbag!" Edgeworth exclaimed. During her ranting, Edgeworth and Kay had checked out their items in record speed. He promptly grabbed the bags and Kay's hand, and got the hell out of there.

"I'll see you later, Edgey-poo!" She said, fondly waving at him as he left.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Franziska asked, seeing Edgeworth's and Kay's face upon their return to the convention.

"Oldbag," Edgeworth said with a shudder.

"Who?" Franziska asked.

"Never mind," Edgeworth said. "I'll tell you later."

"Fine, did you get the supplies?" Franziska pestered.

"Right here," Edgeworth said, holding up the supplies, which were now in one of the garbage bags.

"Good."

"Whatcha gonna do now?" Kay asked the two teenagers.

"Now, you're going to do the second part out favor," Franziska said, clapping her gloved hands together.

Kay pouted. "Get me another Swiss Roll first."

Franziska looked at Edgeworth. "Your turn to pay."

"Fine," Edgeworth grumbled, and purchased another Swiss Roll.

"Mmm!" Kay said happily, looking at the treat. "So, what's the favor?"

"Nothing difficult," Edgeworth said with a shrug and shake of his head. "Just follow those two brothers and find out which hotel room they're in, and come tell us."

"Got it!" Kay said, giving a salute.

"We'll be here tomorrow," Edgeworth said.

"Okay! See ya guys later!" Kay waved, then left.

As soon as Kay left, Edgeworth and Franziska dashed away to quickly take several pages of notes. Manfred would be expecting them, after all.

* * *

"Come, we're going back to the hotel," Manfred had said simply after picking up his children. Once they arrived back, Manfred checked the notes that they had so dutifully taken, and immediately relaxed. There had been so many shenanigans as of late that he had started to expect them- a very bad punishment would have been handed down for that, but luckily Franziska and Edgeworth had shaped up their behavior.

Once again confident in his own abilities as a parent, Manfred had a pleasant evening.


	5. The Wrath of Karma, part 3

**Note: If you speak German, there's gonna be a bit of bad language in here. Overall, there's not too much (at least in this story), but if there is, I will inform you. Otherwise, if you don't mind, enjoy!**

* * *

"I got the room number!" Kay told Franziska and Edgeworth happily the next day.

"Excellent," Franziska said. Kay handed them the slip of paper with the room number, 24601.

"Thank you for your help," Edgeworth said politely.

"Sure, but can you buy me another Swiss Roll?"

One Swiss Roll later, it was time for the second part of the plan to begin. This time it was Franziska watching with the Binoculars of Revenge, while Edgeworth recruited their second target.

"Hello," Edgeworth said. "Can you help me?"

"Sure thing, pal!" Target 2, also known as Detective Dick Gumshoe, replied. "What is it?"

Edgeworth sighed and looked away. "I have been wronged," he stated in a dramatic voice. "I cannot let the abomination of injustice stand. That is why, faithful detective, I need you to help me."

"Okay...what is it, pal?" Gumshoe asked.

"We just need your help to play a prank on some...friends," Edgeworth said.

"Sure thing!" Gumshoe replied. "Wait, 'we'?"

"My sister and I," Edgeworth clarified.

"Okay!" Gumshoe said. "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing very complicated, just..."

* * *

Moments later, Edgeworth, Gumshoe, and Franziska had sneaked away to the hotel and hidden inside a janitor's closet.

"Are you sure they'll find this funny? Seems kinda mean to me..." Gumshoe said as he scratched his head.

"Don't worry, the Gavins will find it hilarious. Right, Franziska?" Edgeworth reassured, giving Franziska a wide (and fake) grin.

Franziska pursed her lips and attempted a smile back. "Right, Miles." Edgeworth had warned Franziska to be more polite than usual to convince Gumshoe that they were, as he had put it, "happy siblings that were playing a harmless joke on their friends".

"Oh, alright. In that case..."

"You remember your instructions, yes?" Edgeworth questioned.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Edgeworth, sir!" Gumshoe yelled, and both Edgeworth and Franziska shushed him at once. The didn't need the hotel staff to get suspicious.

* * *

Gumshoe left their hiding spot, pulling out a housekeeping cart, complete with a universal room key that one of the hotel staff had left on their cart and two garbage bags- one full, and one empty. Oddly enough, no one in the hotel questioned his supposed position as a janitor. Happily, Gumshoe pushed his cart onto the elevator and waved goodbye to Edgeworth and Franziska, who had come out of hiding (although Mr. Edgeworth had looked rather pale when he had done this).

Once reaching his floor, he opened the door to the Gavin's hotel room. "Housekeeping..." He said timidly, in case someone was there. No one was, so he set to work and followed Mr. Edgeworth's instructions, which were rather strange for a prank...but Mr. Edgeworth seemed nice, so he followed them.

Gumshoe opened both of the suitcases and removed every single article of clothing, placing them into the empty garbage bag and tying it off. He then pulled out the other bag of merchandise and placed it inside the suitcases instead. There. That should do it. He then placed a fake vase of flowers (with a hidden camera), he left that room.

Gumshoe then dropped off the bag of clothing at the siblings's hotel room. The guy, Miles Edgeworth, had told him to put the garbage bag in the red suitcase. But upon looking at it, Gumshoe noticed it was very small. Both the red and the blue suitcases were small, but there was a large, black suitcase as well. Gumshoe shrugged and placed the bag of clothes inside that one instead. What could possibly be the difference between them?

His job was done, and Gumshoe left, feeling rather pleased with himself.

* * *

Kristoph Gavin sighed as he followed his little brother Klavier to his hotel room. He really didn't want to be here, and had no intention of being a prosecutor, but unfortunately, his parents were rather...demanding. Of course, Klavier- ever the adorable little brother- was cheerful to attend, so here Kristoph was- The Convention Babysitter. Oh, the humanity.

"It's getting late, Klavier. Get your pajamas on."

"I don't want to go to bed!" Klavier (predictably) whined.

Kristoph sighed. "The fräuleins will still be there tomorrow." Did he mention his kid brother was already more charismatic than he would ever be?

"Fine," Klavier pouted and opened up his suitcase.

Upon opening it, he saw all of his clothes had been replaced with Hello Kitty merchandise.

"Kristoph, I said I wanted The Avengers for my birthday."

"What?" Kristoph said, his patience running out.

"Hello Kitty is for girls...is this for you?" Klavier asked.

"Klavier, I'm-" Kristoph stopped dead when he saw the contents of his brother's suitcase. "Where are your clothes?" he demanded.

Klavier frowned. "How should I know?" That little brat.

"Klavier, this is a BIG PROBLEM...!" Kristoph's voice rose in pitch and volume, and he desperately opened up his own suitcase.

He nearly had a heart attack. Inside of _his_ suitcase was several packages of Pepsi Max, more than any normal human could drink, and several packages of tampons.

"WHY WOULD YOU _PUT_ THAT THERE?!" Kristoph screamed, getting extremely flustered as embarrassed just from _looking_ at the tampons.

"Huh?" In the midst of Kristoph's panic, Klavier examined the contents of Kristoph's suitcase. "Cool! Soda!" Klavier said happily, reaching in and taking a bottle. "Kristoph, what are these?" Klavier asked, picking up one of the tampon boxes. Kristoph at this point was too busy running around the room screaming, so Klavier opened the box. "They come with instructions!" He said proudly. He read a little, but quickly became confused. "Kristoph, what's a va-?"

Kristoph lunged across the room and tore the sheet of instructions in half.

"You don't need to know that."

"What?"

"Why...?!" Kristoph groaned dramatically. "Where the _hell_ are our clothes?!"

"I don't know."

"It was a rhetorical question, Klavier!" Kristoph snapped. He began to curse in German. "_Scheiße, Scheiße, Scheiße_..."

"Mom told you not to say that," Klavier piped up.

Kristoph turned to his little brother, a deranged look on his face, and his normally neat drill-hair was now getting frizzy. "Mom's not here right now," he muttered darkly. He then buried his face in his hands. "I wish she was..."


	6. Crime and Punishment

**Aaaaand here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! Sorry this took so long, i took more time than I expected, and was pretty long, too. But I hope you enjoy it (and prepare yourself for the randomness that will come)**

* * *

Never in her life had Franziska von Karma laughed so hard. The hidden camera worked perfectly, and watching Kristoph Gavin panic was extremely satisfying and hilarious.

Miles Edgeworth had experienced the joy of laughing so much several times with his friends when he was younger, but it had been a very long time since then. But seeing their revenge go amazingly well was just too good to be true and made the normally stoic Edgeworth laugh just as hard as his sister.

Manfred had stayed at the convention longer, again giving Edgeworth and Franziska some money to go buy dinner, and be back by eight. When they were about twenty minutes late, however, Manfred became cross. Just when they were behaving so well...

Manfred got up to look over their notes of what they had learned, much like a teacher looking at a paper a student had handed in. At least these were on time. Although Miles's badly-timed nap and Franziska's shenanigans had discredited them both quite badly. He opened his suitcase...and what he saw surprised him greatly. But not in a good way. (Good surprises were practically nonexistent to Manfred von Karma).

Stuffed unceremoniously into his suitcase was a large white garbage bag that seemed to be filled with clothes. Curious, Manfred looked inside of it, only to be met with something even more confusing that his kids's behavior.

The bag was stuffed with clothes, alright, but they were neither his, nor Edgeworth's, nor Franziska's. Judging by the variation in the style and size, he could conclude they belonged to two different people. One of them looked to be men's clothing for someone about Miles's age and size, and the other set was boy's clothing for someone who appeared several years younger than Franziska. Just _what_ were those clothes doing hidden in a garbage bag in his suitcase? Manfred, with a deadly look on his face, held up one of the child-sized shirts that read "World's #1 Rockstar".

This, this abomination and utter _foolishness_ was not going to go unpunished, no. Manfred now deeply regretted bringing his children to the convention in the first place. He didn't know how much more his patience could be tested by them.

Just then, a cheerful Miles and Franziska walked in, happily discussing something. Both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw an irate Manfred von Karma standing there, squeezing the life out of the "World's #1 Rockstar" shirt.

"Both of you sit down, right now," Manfred said slowly. Edgeworth and Franziska glanced at each other with worry before they say down on the hotel bed. "Do you have any idea what this is?" He said, holding up the tshirt and the garbage bag with the other clothes.

"Those are clothes, sir," Edgeworth responded hesitantly.

"Don't give me that attitude, boy. I know that," Manfred snapped. Edgeworth clammed up. "Are these clothes yours or Franziska's?"

"...No, sir," Edgeworth said softly.

"What was that?!" Manfred asked.

"No, sir."

Manfred started pacing in front of them. He noticed Franziska was whispering something to herself, almost inaudibly.

"What was that, Franziska?" Manfred turned to face her.

Franziska paled. "Just that...i-it's all Miles Edgeworth's fault," she lied.

Manfred frowned. "I think I know exactly what's going on here."

Franziska's and Edgeworth's eyes widened.

"I don't think I need to reiterate how I feel about this," he said, beginning to pace again. "I'm rather disappointed that you agreed to help with Miles's foolish plan."

Edgeworth frowned. My plan? This was Franziska's idea! Still, he was interested to see where this was going...

"Papa?" Franziska appeared confused.

Manfred ignored her "This is absolutely unacceptable, Miles. Stealing another man's clothes? And accidentally taking his little brother's, as well?" He sighed deeply. "You could have just told me you were gay."

Edgeworth was stunned, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. "W-what?! I'm not...!" He spluttered.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Franziska interrupted. Without waiting for her father's permission, she dashed to the bathroom. The moment the door closed, Manfred and Edgeworth heard ear-splitting laughter.

Manfred looked unamused at Franziska's reaction, and Edgeworth was still bright red and fumbling for words.

"I knew it!" A muffled yell issued from the bathroom door in between bursts of hysterical laughter. "Miles Edgeworth is gay!" Franziska hollered, still laughing. After a couple more minutes, Franziska emerged from the bathroom, and stood next to Edgeworth in front of Manfred as if she had never said anything.

"Now," Manfred said, resuming his pacing again. "You're both going to return these clothes personally, and apologize, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," Edgeworth and Franziska said.

"And rest assured, I'm not finished thinking of punishments for the two of you. Clear?"

"Yes, sir," they repeated. He waved a hand to dismiss them.

As soon as they had shut the door behind them, and were out of earshot, Edgeworth spoke. "You still haven't forgiven the Gavins, have you?"

"No," Franziska replied.

"Good," Edgeworth said, rubbing his hands together. "I have an idea."

"Do tell, Miles Edgeworth."

"So first,..."

* * *

Neither of the Gavin brothers slept well last night. Much later, when Klavier had _actually_ wanted to go to bed, he had thrown a fit because he didn't have his favorite pajamas, and didn't seem to care for Kristoph's explanation of "life isn't fair".

So long story short, both Gavin brothers felt and looked terrible the next day.

"Let's just get down to that stupid convention, ja?" Kristoph sighed.

Klavier yawned and followed his brother.

Kristoph and Klavier stood in shock upon arriving to the convention itself.

Apparently, they had done well in angering someone. They didn't know that they had such a strong talent for that.

Because their clothes, their _stolen_ clothes, were strung all over the front of the convention building in the most humiliating way conceivable- on display for everyone to see. Kristoph and Klavier could do nothing but gape at the sight of their clothes hung all over the building, some of which were placed in quite creative locations. Taped onto one of Kristoph's nicer shirts was a little piece of paper that had the word 'Sorry' written on it. Throughout their lives, neither Gavin had seen a less sincere apology. Klavier was the first to recover, and walked towards one his shirts. "No, Klavier," Kristoph whispered, embarrassed. "We don't want people knowing those are our clothes!"

"But-" Klavier protested.

"We'll come back and get them later," he explained. "Just pretend like they're not yours and go."

The Gavin's stepped into the convention. Immediately, a sound, laughter, caught their attention. Once they saw the source of the sound, the stopped dead.

Two people. One blue-haired teenage girl, and one man with darker hair, both wearing cravats.

The events all hit Kristoph like a wave. "That little...!" He said, glaring at Franziska.

"Hm?" Klavier looked in the direction of Kristoph's attention. "Wow, she looks-"

"No, Klavier, that is a mean fräulein that you should stay away from," Kristoph said seriously.

Klavier looked crestfallen. "Hey, there's that fluttery guy. I woke him up with my guitar, and he said he was going to kill me."

"I think that was metaphorical, but even so..." Kristoph glared at the 'fluttery man' as well. "I don't like this one bit." Kristoph lost himself in thought for a moment, before realizing the girl and the man were gone from his line of sight. He also realized with a jolt that Klavier wasn't standing at his side anymore. He whipped his head around and to his relief, spotted Klavier amongst the crowd.

Just as Kristoph was about to call for him, however, Klavier smoothly stuck his foot out in front of the blue-haired girl. She promptly tripped and fell forward awkwardly. A familiar shriek issued from her- the same one as when he had spilled (well, dumped) his lemonade on her. Kristoph walked over, not at all feeling sorry for that little brat, Franziska von Karma. The other man bent over, concerned. "Franziska, are you okay?"

"Fool!" she snapped. She moved to stand up. "Miles Edgeworth, of course I am-" Franziska fell down and made a smothered sound of pain. "Or I would be if my ankle hadn't just been twisted," she spat. The man, Miles Edgeworth, held out a hand and Franziska took it, standing up awkwardly.

It was just then that Edgeworth spotted a still-smirking Klavier Gavin. "You!" Edgeworth cried in recognition, his face contorting in rage. Klavier backed up, frightened. "_You're_ the little demon child that-!"

The rest of Edgeworth's sentence was cut off by Kristoph punching Edgeworth with all his might.

Kristoph rubbed his sore knuckles, but grinned widely. "That...felt really good," he reflected.

Edgeworth, collapsing after the surprise of the blow, was more furious than ever. He managed to evade another blow and punch Kristoph back.

Meanwhile Franziska, while unable to place weight on one of her feet, decided she wasn't going to let any fool by the name of Gavin disgrace the von Karma. They were the ones that deserved the disgrace. Keeping her good foot planted on the ground, she lifted her other leg to hit Klavier.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kristoph saw that his brother was about to be on the receiving end of Franziska's wrath. Unwilling to let his brother suffer the horrible fate of Franziska kicking him in the nuts, Kristoph pushed Klavier aside before she kicked him. Franziska's momentum made her fall onto her bad foot and wince in pain.

"Break it up, pals!" A voice called out, shoving the two sibling pairs apart. Detective Gumshoe stood in between them, looking disapprovingly at all four of them. "Fighting's not allowed here, you know? Not good for learning." Edgeworth scoffed obviously, but Gumshoe didn't seem to notice.

Gumshoe leaned over to Edgeworth. "I don't think they liked your joke, pal," he said seriously.

"I could tell," Edgeworth replied monotonously.

"Hey, let me help out, I think I know where to get stuff to help the two of you. Be right back." Gumshoe sprinted away. The Gavins left also, casting glares at Edgeworth and Franziska as they did.

"Got it!" Gumshoe proclaimed proudly. He held a pair of crutches for Franziska. She frowned, probably about to reject them, but changed her mind, and took them.

"And for you. That's quite the black eye," Gumshoe commented cheerfully, handing Edgeworth an eyepatch.

Edgeworth sighed. Well, it's not like I can look more conspicuous, he thought. He took the eyepatch and put it on.

* * *

By some miracle, or curse, or both, Manfred von Karma was late. There was a reason, of course, a perfectly logical one, but a horrible reason all the same. He had experienced an awful nightmare in which Gregory Edgeworth had been the one to give him the bottle of Hello Kitty hand sanitizer, and then proceeded to decorate the convention with lots of other Hello Kitty merchandise. Miles, Franziska, and Wendy Oldbag also assisted in the decoration process, as well.

So, already in a horrible mood with the world, Manfred headed to the convention, glad that at least Edgeworth and Franziska had gotten there on time. Early, in fact.

What he was NOT pleased with, he realized when he arrived, was that they had gone early to hang up all of the clothes that were in the bag the previous night around the convention building. Manfred became FURIOUS. Just how much did those two think they could fool around and get away with it?! Now, on top of everything, he had to think of even MORE punishments! He noticed the small paper that said 'Sorry' on one of the shirts, and nearly lashed out at something with his cane. No doubt it was some form of mockery directed at his instructions.

Manfred opened the doors to the convention with a bang. Everyone who stood near him scampered off. He stalked around the convention in pursuit of his two disobedient children. Eventually he found them, and his dark mood lessened ever-so-slightly.

It seemed that Edgeworth and Franziska had received some form of punishment, as Franziska had a pair of crutches under her arms, and Edgeworth had an eyepatch. Nothing less than they deserved, Manfred thought. He turned away and pretended he didn't see them. As he expected, out of the corner his eye, Edgeworth and Franziska noticed him, and scrambled to hide the crutches out of sight.

"What are you two up to?" Manfred asked, approaching them.

Edgeworth turned his face away to hide his eyepatch. "We were going to..."

"...get snacks!" Franziska finished quickly. "I'll be right back," she lied, and limped away.

Manfred said nothing and waited for Franziska's return. However, it seemed like Franziska was hiding from him, so he got one of the junior officers to go find her.

"I'm sorry, but your father's looking for you...!" The officer was explaining to Franziska as she escorted her, looking apologetic.

"I will have you fired!" Franziska shrieked. "You..." Franziska checked the officer's name tag. "...foolishly foolish fool by the name of Maggey Byrde!" Franziska glared at Officer Byrde. "Expect lots of paycuts in your future," she hissed, and Maggey slouched.

"I wouldn't be surprised at this point..." Maggey mumbled. "Um, here she is, sir!" She said, giving Manfred an enthusiastic salute, and then leaving.

"You two," Manfred said, addressing Edgeworth and Franziska sharply. "Don't think for a _second_ I don't know about what you did with those clothes." The two adolescents cowered under Manfred's glare.

"You two are going to be punished greatly when we get home, am I understood?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"...yes, sir."

"Good. And Franziska," Manfred added. "I know those crutches are yours." Franziska reddened in shame. Manfred looked at Edgeworth. "I know perfectly well you're wearing an eyepatch, Miles," Manfred said seriously. "I would have given you a black eye, as well." Edgeworth's jaw dropped in awe at Manfred's perceptiveness. Soon enough, Manfred left them alone, but they couldn't help but wonder about the punishment in store...


	7. The Return

**Thanks for the review and for waiting for this chapter! **

**Spoilers for Turnabout Goodbyes**

* * *

The convention came to an end, which left Manfred to do some serious contemplation. Edgeworth's and Franziska's punishment, for one thing, avoiding getting sued by the Gavins for another, but right now, the pressing issue was transportation. Since the car was out of commission, and Manfred had sworn to himself never to set foot in a public bus again, his options were considerably limited.

With his luggage all around him, perfectly packed of course, Manfred sat in one of the cushy chairs in the hotel's lobby.

"Hey there, Manny!" Came a cheerful voice.

Manfred looked up from his reverie, and his heart plummeted. Standing before him, with a huge smile on his face, was Detective Damon Gant.

Frankly, Manfred had always considered him nothing more than an extreme nuisance, but unfortunately they ended up getting stuck on a lot of cases together as both were well-respected in their field. This, of course was much to the happiness of Gant, and much to the dismay of Manfred.

"I told you not to call me that," Manfred said, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. He simply didn't have the patience for Gant's shenanigans now.

"Aww, no need to be so formal! After all, we're not working right now!" Gant said, clapping his hands happily.

_I wish I was working_, Manfred thought bitterly. _And not with you._

"My name is Manfred von Karma," was all he could bring himself to say.

Gant ignored him. "You don't look to happy right now, Manny. What's the matter?" Gant asked, sitting down beside Manfred and putting and arm around him. Manfred's hand twitched and considered using his stun gun, but restrained himself.

"Nothing."

"Now, now," Gant chastised. "We're best friends. You can tell me anything."

The day I consider you my best friend is the day Miles Edgeworth rides an elevator, Manfred thought, rolling his eyes.

"I need a ride home..." Without any rhyme or reason, Manfred found himself explaining his problem.

"My car foolishly broke on it's way here," he added. Clearly, this wasn't _his_ fault.

"Well, it just so happens I've got a ride for you and your adorable little kids!" Gant remarked cheerfully. Manfred desperately wanted to say that Miles wasn't his child, and that _neither_ of them were adorable.

"I'll go get them."

* * *

Damon Gant witnessed a very interesting sight as the von Karmas came out of the hotel.

Franziska hobbling out of the hotel, trying to pull her suitcase and walk on crutches at the same time, moving at an incredibly slow pace.

Edgeworth struggling to pull two suitcases, one of which seemed to be very large- that one probably belonged to Manfred.

And Manfred carrying nothing but his cane as he walked past both of the teenagers.

"Alright!" Damon clapped his hands together and helped the kids take the suitcases. "This must be little Worthy!" He said, patting an embarrassed Edgeworth on the back.

"And this must be-!"

"Call me Franzi, and I hurt you," Franziska practically hissed, raising a fist.

"Franziska! Behave!" Manfred barked. Like he needed her to make an even _worse_ impression on others for him. Franziska glared at Gant, but he only smiled back.

"Let's get the luggage in the van!" Was his only reply.

"That...that _can't_ be _the_ van, right?" Edgeworth looked disbelieving.

"Indeed it is, Worthy! Sorry there's already a bunch of people there already. I'm just the carpool guy today!" Damon Gant said looking proudly at the van in question, which was painted so it looked like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo.

"That," Franziska said, "is the ugliest thing I've ever seen."

"I'm warning you, Franziska," Manfred cautioned. "One more outburst, and you walk home without your crutches." Franziska clammed up and glared at the van.

Gant helped Edgeworth put the luggage in the car. "Let me count the seats, here..." Gant pointed at each seat. "Oh, dear," he said, clapping his hands together anxiously. "There's only one more seat. Maybe if everyone scoots over, or..."

"No need," Manfred said. "Edgeworth and Franziska can sit in the trunk."

"Manny, there's luggage in the trunk," Gant replied.

"That isn't a problem," Manfred said easily.

"It's okay!" A chipper, female voice came from inside the van. "_I'll_ sit in the trunk with Mr. Edgeworth!"

Manfred's blood froze. _That voice...it couldn't be..._

"Hey, there!"

Ema Skye was leaning forward in her seat to smile at Manfred. "Look, Lana, it's the nice, old guy from the bus I told you about."

Lana, whom Manfred assumed to be the young, brunette woman next to Ema, looked at Manfred thankfully.

"That's nice, Ema," she said kindly. "Thank you very much for looking after Ema," she addressed Manfred. Manfred said nothing. A car ride with Damon Gant AND Ema Skye...just what had he gotten himself into?!

"Ah ha ha ha..." Edgeworth laughed nervously, looking deeply uncomfortable. "Franziska, you'd better sit in the trunk with me."

"What?!" Franziska looked aghast, but before she could protest, Edgeworth had pulled her off and climbed into the trunk.

* * *

"Hey, Daddy, can we go home in that van?" Kay Faraday tugged her father's sleeve impatiently as the walked through the parking lot.

"I don't think so," Byrne Faraday replied, frowning at the loud crowd of strange people around the strange van. "It looks pretty full already..."

* * *

"Oooh-kay..." Damon said, once they had climbed into the trunk. "Let's hit the road!"

Manfred tried to get in the shotgun seat, but someone was already sitting there, some other detective.

"Sorry," he apologized to Manfred. Manfred simply glared and shut the door.

He opened the door to the backseat, and grimaced when he saw the empty seat was near the back of the van, and next to Ema Skye. Manfred reluctantly climbed into the Mystery Machine and sat down.

"You never told me your name is Manfred!" Ema exclaimed when they sat down. Manfred sighed. He was already tired of this car ride, and it hadn't even started. If he hadn't known that cars weren't for sleeping, he would have been tempted to do so.

"I actually drew a picture of you for Mr. Jake, Mr. Neil, Mr. Bruce, Ms. Angel, and Mr. Damon!" Ema proclaimed happily, presenting Manfred with a piece of paper. Upon inspection, he said that it had a crudely drawn image of him, the most defining feature of the drawing being his cravat. Manfred also realized he was smiling in the picture. Clearly, this girl had a terrible memory. Manfred scowled as he heard muffled chuckling coming from everyone else in the car.

"That there picture belongs in a museum, Ema," one of the men, who was wearing a ridiculous cowboy outfit, told her kindly.

"Thanks, Mr. Neil!" Ema said happily. Manfred looked away and rolled his eyes. Who in their right mind would pay money to see that garbage?

"Lana, I'm hungry," Ema nudged her sister. Manfred sighed. At least she could bother her instead of him.

"Just wait a bit, Ema. Angel made lunch for you. What do you say to her?" Lana questioned.

"Thank you Ms. Angel!" Ema cried, practically shoving Manfred into the wall and reaching across the row to hug the woman in the seat in front of her.

"Oh, it's no problem, sweetie," Angel said with a smile. "I'm afraid I wasn't expecting our newest guests though," she said apologetically to Manfred. "Luckily, I packed some extras! I hope you like what's inside!" She said, smiling widely. Manfred wanted to hit his head repeatedly against the car window. Now he was expected to _eat_ in the car with these idiots?! Even though his back was turned, Manfred could have _sworn_ that Damon Gant was grinning happily at his misfortune.

"Hey, Bruce, where do I turn?" Gant asked.

"Shh, this is hilarious," Ema said, nudging Manfred and grinning. "Do the voice, Mr. Bruce!" She called.

"In a quarter of a mile, take exit 126D," a robotic voice issued from the car. Manfred realized it was the detective in the shotgun seat, Bruce, doing an admittedly good impression of a GPS. Manfred sighed. Did these imbeciles really entertain themselves with such foolishness?

The lunchboxes were passed around to everyone in the car, including Manfred. To his horror, he saw everyone begin to eat their lunches in the car, in perhaps not the neatest of ways.

"Hey...maybe Mr. Edgeworth and his sister want lunch, too!" Ema piped up.

"I think we have two more," Lana said.

"Incoming!" The other cowboy, Jake, picked up two lunchboxes, and tossed them with incredible precision into the trunk. Edgeworth and Franziska were surprised and amazed when two lunchboxes flew perfectly over their heads and into their laps.

Manfred felt completely and utterly _horrified_ at this foolish, uncivil behavior. It seems like a public bus would have been better after all.

"Well, darn it all, this lunch is just what I was hankerin' for," Jake said. Neil nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yeah!" Ema chirped. "I'm hankering! Are you hankering, Mr. Manfred? Are you? 'Cause I sure am!" she all but yelled in Manfred's ear. All Manfred could think was how stupid the word 'hankering' sounded and how he never wanted to hear it again.

"Hey, do any of y'all want to sing a song to pass the time?" Neil asked.

"Yeah!" Ema screamed. Manfred hit his forehead with his hand. Not again!

"99 bottles of beer on the wall..." Jake started to sing, but Lana cut him off.

"Don't sing about beer in front of Ema," she chastised.

"But-" Neil started to protest. Lana fixed him a glare.

"No buts."

"Alright, alright, I got it," Jake said. Manfred sighed in relief, thinking that it was over, but was instantly proven wrong.

"99 bottles of sarsaparilla on the wall, 99 bottles of sarsaparilla!"

_OF COURSE it could get much worse,_ Manfred thought. Soon, everyone in the car joined in the song, including a loud and out-of-tune Ema Skye.

* * *

When it was all over, Manfred's ears were ringing and his eyes glazed over. The horror of it all. It was just too much. And unfortunately, there was still more of their journey left.

There was pleasant chatter throughout the van again, but it died down as everyone listened to two bickering voices at the back of the trunk.

"Give me the iPod, Franziska!"

"Never! You don't know good music when you hear it you foolish piece of foolishly foolish foolishness!"

"I bought that iPod!" Edge worth protested. Manfred remembered how Edgeworth had saved his meager amount of money to buy that device. Manfred really didn't care as long as he just had classical music (he didn't like anything else) and that it didn't disrupt Edgeworth's studies.

"I don't care!" Was Franziska's response. "You're obviously a fool if _that's_ your idea of good music!"

Manfred could practically imagine Edgeworth's offended expression.

"I'm sorry how is Beethoven better than Mozart?" He asked.

"Obviously, you fool, because Beethoven composed much his music while deaf! He's _clearly_ better."

"Well, Mozart composed far more music than Beethoven! He wrote over 600 pieces!" Edgeworth protested.

"You know, I agree with Mr. Edgeworth!" Ema interjected.

"Why? You don't listen to classical, Ema," Lana said.

"Well, Mr. Edgeworth is really hot!" Ema reasoned. Manfred paled in shock. _You have GOT to be joking._ Muffled laughter issued from the rest of the people in the car. He glared at them. Fools.

Suddenly, Manfred heard a loud clatter, then-

"No, Franziska, put your crutch-!" There was a loud THUMP, and Edgeworth cried out in pain. "That's it!" Edgeworth declared. Manfred was extremely displeased when he heard the sounds of scuffling in the back of the trunks. Several loud CLANGS prompted him to lose his temper and turn around. Manfred looked down to see that Edgeworth and Franziska were each sword fighting with one of Franziska's crutches. They looked at him apprehensively.

"Cease this behavior at once!" He roared. "The best composer is _obviously_ Bach, now be quiet!"

Edgeworth and Franziska quieted immediately. And they didn't speak the rest of the way home. But, unfortunately everyone else did.

* * *

_Getting shot in the shoulder was more enjoyable than this._

* * *

**Poor Manfred. It's getting easier to write him now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but practice, as they say, makes perfect. **

**And I couldn't resist adding the SL-9 crew, as well. They're awesome :)**


End file.
